The meltdown of what was once one of America's best-known chains represents a strange turn of events considering it was only in March that parent General Wireless Operations filed for bankruptcy protection and proposed closing only about 200 RadioShack stores.

But at the time, General Wireless left the door open to closing more — though few observers expected the numbers to top 1,000 soon.

Now, the remaining company-owned stores will include only seven states, with the greatest concentration in New York, Pennsylvania and RadioShack's native Texas.

In its heyday, Fort Worth-based RadioShack had 7,300 stores and could claim that it had a store within three miles of 95% of all American households. It was a regular stop for consumers for all nature of electronics — from stereos to walkie talkies. It also became a regular stop for incidental items like cables or antennae to hook up a TV set, batteries for toys or transistor radios or early laptop computers like the TRS-80.

But like so many other retailers, it has become a victim of the Internet. Now, when people need electronic gear, more than ever they turn to online retailers.

RadioShack began in Boston in 1921.

As for the RadioShack authorized dealers, many appear similar to the company owned stores, having stocked RadioShack-branded merchandise. Others differ by carrying items that wouldn't be found in the company-owned stores.